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Business & Economy
Estelle Timar-Wilcox

Twin Cities Half Price Books workers ratify first contract

A store sign reads 'Half Price Books.'
A Half Price Books store in Greenfield, Wis. on Nov. 28, 2014. Workers at four Twin Cities Half Price Books locations ratified their first contract last week after unionizing two years ago.
Darren Hauck | Getty Images file

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Workers at four Twin Cities Half Price Books locations ratified their first contract last week after unionizing two years ago. 

Employees at stores in Coon Rapids, St. Paul, St. Louis Park and Roseville say their new contracts include pay raises, increases in starting salaries, and new job protections. 

Mitchell Pliego is a bookseller at the St. Paul store. He’s been participating in bargaining for the past two years, and he said some of his coworkers were considering leaving the store if pay didn’t go up.

“I have a lot of old coworkers who left Half Price Books for that reason. We just were not getting paid enough to survive,” Pliego said. “The wage increase, that’s such a huge win.”

And, Pliego said, he’s excited about contract terms that set regular meetings between employees and managers. He said communication has been a struggle over the past two years.

Workers sought union recognition in 2021, after layoffs and staffing shortages across the company. Employees at the four Twin Cities locations went on a two-day strike last summer, saying the company wasn't cooperating in contract negotiations. 

“It’s not an easy fight, it wasn’t an easy win, that’s for sure,” Pliego said.

The four Half Price Books locations in Minnesota were the first to unionize. Employees at stores in Indiana, Illinois, and several other states followed suit. The company owns more than a hundred stores across the country — including two others in Minnesota, in Apple Valley and Maplewood.

Kathy Doyle Thomas, president of Half Price Books, said in a statement that the company is happy with the contract.

“Half Price Books is proud of our benefits, our culture and the opportunities we have always provided to all of our employees,” Thomas said. 

Employees at an Indiana store were the first to ratify a contract, just days before the Twin Cities locations.